Weekly NASCAR cheaters reportUPDATE #3 Two people familiar with the inspection process say NASCAR is taking a closer look at Clint Bowyer's race-winning car from New Hampshire. The #33 Chevy passed its initial inspection following Sunday's victory, but the people familiar with the situation say NASCAR discovered issues with the car in a more thorough inspection at its research and development center. They requested anonymity because the car is still being inspected. On Tuesday, NASCAR told RCR officials that Bowyer's chase-clinching car from Richmond came very close to failing inspection. Though NASCAR does not typically strip wins from drivers, a car that fails inspection would lead to a significant points penalty. Bowyer's wins pushed him to second from 12th in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, 35 points behind leader Denny Hamlin. Associated Press/ESPN.com

09/21/10 Whitney Motorsports team owner Dusty Whitney's response to penalties levied against the team following post-race inspection of the #46 Dodge after the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway: "I stand by NASCAR's decision in that they give us a box to work within and as competitors we are all expected to work within that box. However, I am extremely disappointed in that as a small team we outsource our engine building and we entrust our engine builder to ensure we meet the NASCAR parameters and engine requirements. By entrusting a third party that did not perform to NASCAR's standards our team is not only suffering a hefty financial penalty but we are also losing a valuable member of our team for six races along with a substantial loss of owner and driver points. We expect all of our vendors and outsourced suppliers to perform within the guidelines established by Whitney Motorsports and NASCAR and it is extremely unfortunate and costly when they do not." When NASCAR discovered the valves in the engine of the #46 Dodge to be below the mandated weight, Whitney Motorsports was penalized $50,000, driver Michael McDowell was penalized 50 driver points and owner Dusty Whitney was penalized 50 owner points. Crew chief Jeremy LaFaver has also been suspended from NASCAR competition for six weeks. That engine was acquired from Gillette-Evernham Motorsports and has since been rebuilt and updated by Arrington Engines. Whitney Motorsports PR

09/21/10 NASCAR warned Richard Childress Racing that Clint Bowyer's car came close to failing inspection after his Chase-clinching drive at Richmond. NASCAR scheduled a Tuesday meeting with RCR officials to go over the #33 Chevy and determine if the team had not made a mistake in its own calculations.

"They were in the box, but getting close to some of the tolerances and we asked them to come in to see if they aren't getting off on one of their build sheets," NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton told The Associated Press.

"We have had their cars in quite a bit, and they were always spot-on. This one just seemed to be different, and we felt we owed it to them to make sure they just aren't off in one area." Bowyer's car was chosen by NASCAR for random inspection following his sixth-place finish at the Sept. 11 race. The run gave him the 12th and final spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, which began Sunday in New Hampshire. But as his team celebrated the victory, rival teams began to gossip about a potential problem with Bowyer's car from the week before. NASCAR on Tuesday confirmed that once the car got back to its North Carolina research and development center, it was discovered that the back end of the Chevy was very close to the mandated tolerance levels. NASCAR still has the car in its possession, and won't give it back to RCR until the team meets with the sanctioning body. Even if Bowyer's car had failed inspection, it wouldn't have changed the Chase field. The penalty for failed inspections runs anywhere from 50-to-100 points, and Bowyer had a 142-point cushion over Ryan Newman at the end of the Richmond race. Associated Press/ESPN

09/20/10 NASCAR spent an extended amount of inspection time with the Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson cars which failed to pass the height sticks in the first attempt. While the officials took pictures of the cars for insurance, after the shocks cooled down both cars made it through the height sticks on the second attempt. NASCAR took the #33-Clint Bowyer and #6-David Ragan cars to the technical center for further analysis as well as engines going from the #33, #11, #6, #46-Michael McDowell cars FoxSports

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